A Cooling Touch
by frozentreats.chocolatesweets
Summary: It's the first day on winter, but when 11 year old Jamie becomes very sick, Jack spends the day with his best friend. When Jamie's fever becomes worse, the boys come to a quick compromised later leading to why Jamie is Jack's favourite believer. /Brotherly fluff.\ All characters belong to William Joyce/ROTG


"Jamie!" Jack cheered as he was now climbing through the boy's bedroom window.

"Jamie? What are you doing still sleeping? Get up!" Jack beamed as he was now inside the room and shaking Jamie in an attempt to wake the younger boy.

"Jack?" Jamie mumbled out in a sleepy voice and turned over to see Jack.

Seeing that Jamie was awake, Jack flew to the other side of the brunette's room and was now digging through the closest in order to find some warm clothes. It was a special day and to celebrate, Jack gave the children of Burgess a snow day. With a pile of Jamie-sized clothes in hand, he turned back around only see that Jamie hadn't moved one inch.

"C'mon kiddo, get dressed." Jack chirped while setting the pile at the foot of Jamie's bed.

Jamie still didn't move. He was just staring up at Jack with a dazed expression and a flushed face.

_Something's wrong with Jamie._ Jack thought as he met Jamie's brown eyes that looked lifeless.

"C'mon! I've got a whole bunch of things planned for today." Jack encouraged in a cheerful voice.

Blinking away the remaining sleep, Jamie looked at the pile of clothes then turned to the winter spirit with a confused look.

"Where are we going?" Jamie asked in a hoarse voice while wrapping a blanket over his shoulders.

"Outside, of course!" Jack replied thinking that the answer was obvious.

"You didn't forget did you?" Jack teased while letting a snowflakes glide between his fingers.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I did." Jamie admitted in a small voice that didn't seem to break Jack's excitement.

"It's the first day of winter!" Jack belted out as he jumped up and created a small shower of snow.

"And thanks to my love of Burgess, I made it a snow day. Your welcome" Jack exclaimed in a proud voice.

"C'mon. All we're doing here is wasting time." Jack continued with the bright smile.

Not giving Jamie any time to respond, Jack quickly picked up a shirt and threw at it the brunette and was now leaving the boy's room so that Jamie could change. Before Jack could actually leave the room, he was stopped by a small plopping noise. Quickly peeking his head in, he saw that Jamie was now lying on his bed with the shirt covering his face.

"What are you waiting for?" Jack quested as he stepped back into the room.

"I can't go." Jamie groaned from his bed and under the shirt.

"Can't go? Why?" Jack whined while pulling the shirt of Jamie's face.

"I'm sick." Jamie mumbled out as he caught the disappointed look that Jack now had.

With a small frown forming on his face, Jack stared at the boy who was as sick as a dog. Jamie's whole face was flushed red, his throat was dry and worst of all Jamie had a terrible cough that sounded pretty painful. Jack felt a ping of guilt when he realized that he almost got the already sick boy to out back outside, which was problem of the sickness in the first place.

"I'm really sorry Jack," Jamie started in a hoarse voice. "I know you wanted me to hang out with you today, but I really can't." Jamie finished with his voice no louder than a whisper.

"I hope you have fun with Claude and the others." Jamie encouraged while pulling the blanket over himself.

And just as Jamie expected, Jack left. It wasn't too long after Jack was gone that he left a weight at the side of this bed.

"Addy, get off my bed." Jamie pleaded hoping that the Grey Hound would leave if he asked nicely.

But she didn't move, not an inch.

Slightly leaning up to command the dog off for the second time, he was meet with, not brown, but blue eyes.

"Here take this." Jack advised as he handed Jamie one 'children's advil' and a glass of water.

"Okay," Jamie replied and took the medicine. "But why?" He asked after drinking the entire glass of water.

Ruffling the boy's brown hair, Jack replied with a warm smile.

"Well if you can't come outside, what harm would it do if I stayed in for the day?"

"Really? Wait, won't you get sick too?" Jamie asked as a per-caution.

"Hello? Winter Spirit? If I was to _ever_ get sick, I think it would have happened a long time ago." Jack chuckled and then pulled a blanket over Jamie's small shoulders.

"Oh, yeah I guess that makes sense." Jamie then coughed a little, only causing Jack to wrap the blanket a tighter.

"Wanna play a video game?" Jamie exclaimed once he caught his breath.

"Sure, and I'll go easy one you this time." Jack teased while standing up straight.

"Nice try." Jamie exclaimed in a strained voice.

Still wrapped in the blanket, Jamie swung his legs off the side of a bed. Once standing, Jamie started to head for the door with Jack following closely behind him. But he only made it a few feet when dizziness struck him. Jerking forward, Jamie grabbed onto his door and held himself up while he let the room spin around him. _Deep breathes, just take a deep breathe. _Clinging to the door, Jamie could hear Jack coming up behind him and trying to help him.

"Don't worry." Jamie muttered out while he forced himself to stand up and keep going.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked in a concerned voice.

"Once I sit down, I'll be fine." Jamie squeaked out as he tried to focus on not tripping.

The brunette only made it a few more steps before he was holding his head and stumbling around. Soon after, Jamie stepped onto his blanket and nearly tripped, if it wasn't for the wooden staff that quickly wrapped around under his arms and pulled him back. Tripping backwards, Jamie dumped into Jack and looked up to see a concerned look on the winter spirit's face.

"You shouldn't be walking...hold on…here." Jack then crouched down in front of Jamie, back facing the brunette.

Too dizzy to reject Jack's offer, Jamie laced his blanket covered arms around Jack's neck and was instantly pulled upward into a piggy-back. Letting his head lean against the base of Jack's neck, Jamie got some relief from the winter spirit's cool skin.

"The living room right?" Jack questioned as he hitched Jamie's legs higher on his waist.

"Uh, yeah" Jamie breathed out in a hoarse voice.

After making their way down the stairs and several apologizes from Jack who accidently disorientated Jamie by jumping down the stairs, they finally made it to Jamie's living room. Once in the room, Jamie unlocked both his legs and arms and landed on the floor with a small thud. Trudging over to the television and game system, Jamie dragged the blanket behind him like a train, but was stopped when he couldn't pull his 'train' any farther.

Looking to see what was stopping him, he spotted Jack's staff planted nicely on the blanket, keeping it from moving.

"Move the staff, I'm going to put Little Big Planet in." Jamie stammered with a small cough.

Smiling at Jamie's determination, Jack replied in a playful tone.

"Just chill out, I'll get the game ready." Jack then redirected Jamie to the couch, which he agreed on without a fight._ Just gotta figure out how to 'put a game on.'_ Jack mentally admitted while sitting in front of the game system.

As Jack fiddled around with the television and Play Station, Jamie just waddled over to the couch and pulled himself onto the cushions. Pulling the remaining blanket up and creating a small bundle around him, Jamie concentrated on how to feel better_. Is it cold then hot? Or hot then cold?_ Jamie pondered while fighting the urge to sleep. _I probably should get anot.-_ Jamie's thoughts were interrupted when he glanced over to winter spirit.

"Jack?" He called in a scratchy voice.

"Jamie?" Jack called over his shoulder.

"Maybe we should just watch a movie instead," Jamie suggested then looked at Jack's handy work.

"Plus it seems like you're having a little trouble."

In front of Jack was everything they would have need to play Little Big Planet, the only problem was that everything Jack touched was now lightly covered in a thin layer of frost. As much as Jamie loved Jack's abilities to control the winter winds and snow, Jamie was 100% sure that the frost wouldn't do any good for his controllers or the Play Station.

"Yeah, I guess that would be better." Jack stammered out in a shy tone.

"Beaten by technology." Jack scoffed as he collected everything and returned them to their boxes.

Unwrapping himself from his blanket-nest, Jamie slid off the couch and was now heading into the other room.

"Where are you going?" Jack asked as he watched the small boy leave.

"To make some popcorn," Jamie called back in a raspy voice followed by a small cough.

"You can pick, I don't care what movie we watch." He continued after catching his breathe.

Once the popcorn was in the microwave and currently popping, Jamie leaned on his kitchen counter and was once again trying to blink away the feeling of the room spinning. _Maybe I should call mom. No, I should be fine. Jack's here watching me, I'll be okay._ Jamie argued with himself. _She said she'd be home early, So I've got nothing to wor-._ Jamie snapped out of his daze when he microwave went off indicating that the popcorn was done.

Dumping the food into a bowl, Jamie trudged back into the living room to see Jack still looking for a movie that they both could watch.

Standing in front of the shelf that held all of the Bennett's movies, Jack hummed aloud as he read over the names of several movies. Since Jack was over 300 years old, he got the privilege to see the evolution of movies and television, and as much as Jack would never admit it, the 80s was his favourite decade that made movies.

"Breakfast Club?"

"Mom said there is swearing in it."

"Right…what about The Blues Brothers?"

"Can't. I'm only 11 remember?"

"Oh yeah" Jack sighed in defeat when he realized that none of the 80s movies the he wanted to watch were 'child-friendly.'

Taking one last look at the movie covered shelf, Jack's interest perked up when he recognized the name of a DVD. Pulling it off the shelf and investigating it more, Jack nodded at the movie then turned to the sick boy who was back in his nest and eating some popcorn.

"How about Tron Legacy?" Jack asked in a hopefully tone.

"Sure, I haven't seen it in a while." Jamie replied before letting a small cough out.

"The original was amazing!" Jack cheered as the plopped down on the couch beside Jamie.

As Jamie sat on the one side of his couch in his nest of blanket, he started to feel the medicine that he took earlier kicking him. Lightly touching his fingers to his burning forehead, he noticed that his fever hadn't change, that is was still pretty high. Jamie then slumped further into his nest and let out a small groan. _I hate being sick. Everything is too hot._ Jamie complained as he breathed out hot air_. Hot and clamm-Wait a minute!_

Turning to face the winter spirit, Jamie was now staring at Jack, trying to find the right words.

Feeling watched Jack turned just in time to see Jamie look at the TV as if nothing happened. Ignoring the uneasy feeling, Jack turned his attention back to the movie.

"J-Jack?" Jamie called no louder than a whisper that Jack almost missed it over the noisy motorcycle that Sam was riding.

"What's up kiddo?" He questioned eyes knew leaving the chase scene between Sam and a cop.

"To lower a fever, I'm supposed to have like a cold cloth right?" Jamie inquired while trying to hide his face in the blankets.

"I've heard that works." Jack stated while reaching for the popcorn.

"W-well…I was hoping you could, y'know…like frost some of my blanket instead of a cloth." Jamie stuttered out into the blanket.

Even though Jamie didn't want the blanket all wet after, he figured that freezing the blanket would be a lot better than him stumbling up the stairs or sending Jack on a wild goose chase to find the linen closet. He really didn't feel like being carried either, he just wanted to stay in one place and relax, but thanks to the ridicules fever, relaxing was becoming a real challenge.

"Your blanket?...Better yet, hold on." Jack replied in a brotherly tone as he pulled his legs up onto the couch.

"Okay, I'm good now." Jack stated with a grin on his face.

"Laying down? How does that help me?" Jamie wondered not fully understanding Jack's methods.

"It does. C'mon." Jack added as he started to pull on Jamie's blanket, urging Jamie to draw closer to him.

Peering over to the winter spirit, Jamie's eyes slightly widened in realization. As Jack was now leaning against the couch's frame, a small spot opened up in front of him. With Jack still pulling the blanket, Jami popped out his arms and started to scramble across the couch, eventually making in to the free spot.

"Who needs a cold cloth when you've got a winter spirit as your best friend?" Jack teased as Jamie twisted around and was now leaning his head against the couch's arm.

Once Jamie was settled into the couch and rewrapped the blankets around himself, Jack snuck his free arm around Jamie's shoulder and place his hand on Jamie's forehead thus causing the brunette to squeak from the cold.

"You're freezing!" Jamie called out and pulled back from Jack's hand.

"Would you rather be burning?" Jack teased as he drummed his fingers on Jamie's burning forehead.

Turning back to their movie, the boy's came in at the part where Allen gave Sam the keys to his father's old arcade. It wasn't even 5 minutes later that Jamie got the familiar sensation of sleep trying to take him. As his eyelids were becoming heavier, the brunette took a quick glance up at Jack who was too amazed by the movie to notice.

_I don't think he'll even notice if I took a quick nap. _

Relaxing more into the couch and letting Jack's cold hand help with his fever, Jamie silently closed his eyes and let himself fall sleep.

"Wow Jamie, did you see that?" Jack exclaimed as the Light Cycles zoomed by on the television.

"Jamie?" He questioned when the brunette didn't respond.

"Hey Jamie, what's wrong?" Jack lightly nudged Jamie hoping to get a response.

"What? Don't like the movie? I told you the original was better." Jack teased then leaned down to check on Jamie.

Using his hand that wasn't on the boy's forehead, Jack slowly tugged on the blanket since it was covering most of Jamie's face. Grinning at the fact that Jamie didn't react by jokingly elbow Jack in the gut, Jack proceeded to pull the fabric to get a better view of Jamie. Once the blanket was just past the brunette's nose, Jack looked down at the brunette and instantly his eyes widened in surprise. Balled up with a supporting arm around him, Jamie was fast asleep on the couch and leaning close to Jack trying to reach the winter spirit's cold skin.

"Jamie," He breathed out while turning down the television.

Shifting himself more, Jack went from leaning against the couch's arm, to using it as a pillow.

"Please don't wake up, or this would be pretty awkward." Jack lightly joked as he moved his arm from underneath Jamie to around the boy's waist and pulled Jamie onto his chest.

"Dude, you weight like nothing." Jack commented as the shifted Jamie more comfortably.

Jamie was so small compared to Jack, he practically fit on Jack's chest. Gently unwrapping the boy's blanket-nest, Jack pulled the fabric over himself so that Jamie was now in direct contact with Jack's frosted sweater. Jamie instantly relaxed once he could feel the cool lowering his fever, nuzzling into the cold fabric Jamie let out a small sigh from the comfort.

Glancing one last time at the young boy, Jack rested his arms on Jamie's back and turned his attention back to the movie.

The rest of the morning went without a hitch. Jack finished watching Tron Legacy, so he went to watching regular television, seeing that he couldn't get up and put another movie on. A few times Jamie started to go in to a cough fit, but Jack easily soothed then by gently patting the brunettes back. Since Jack was immortal, he didn't need sleep, but a one point during that morning, he did close his eyes and relax. When Jamie did wake, it was a little past noon.

At first Jamie didn't make much of an effort to get up, but that changed when he remembered that the blanket he was sleeping on was green. Not blue.

"Jack?" He mumbled out in a sleepy voice.

"Hey! Your finally wake!" Jack cheered as he quickly sat up, almost knocking Jamie off him.

"Finally? How long was I asleep for?" Jamie asked realizing that his nap wasn't so short.

"Hour and a half, maybe two." Jack replied as he laced his arms around his own head and used the as a pillow.

Watching the winter spirit relax more into the couch, Jamie lowered his head back to Jack's chest and started to watch some television. Everything was fairly peaceful, until Jamie noticed something quit disturbing about Jack. He didn't have a heartbeat. Jamie tensed up at the realization _Maybe I'm just imagining it._ Jamie tried not to panic at the thought of his best friend not having a pulse.

"J-Jack?" He stammered out trying to sound scared.

"What's up?" Jack chirped glancing to the brunette.

"Y-You don't….don't have a… a…umm." Jamie couldn't form words.

"A heartbeat." Jack finished the boy's sentence causing Jamie to stiffen at the words.

"I know," Jack continued in a more relaxed tone.

"And…and you're not worried?" Jamie tested hoping not to upset Jack by his curiosity.

"I was at first, but I got over it." Jack then wrapped his arms around Jamie again and lightly hugged the boy.

"That's why I like holding you." Jack mumbled out then released the boy.

"Holding me?" Jamie questioned as he remember all the times when Jack gave him a piggy-back or hugged him.

"Why do you like holding me?"

"Your heartbeat." Jack stated letting his hands rest on the young boy's back.

"It reminds me of when I was human." Jack the leaned all the way back and was now staring at the ceiling.

"Thank you."

"Pardon me?"

"Thank you." Jamie muttered no louder than a whisper.

"What for?" Jack question not understanding why Jamie was thanking him.

"Well before you came over, my mom woke me, told me it was a snow day. She also told me that she was taking Sophie to my grandparent's house so I wouldn't get her sick." Jamie stated as he locked eyes with Jack.

"You could have been outside all day with the other enjoying the winter, but instead to stayed with me." Jamie finished as the words faded to a whisper.

"So…thanks."

"You're welcome." Jack chirped while he ruffled the brunette's hair.

"Now, go back to sleep. You need it." Jack stated as he pulled the blanket over Jamie's shoulder.

Nuzzling this face into Jack's chest once again, Jamie took one last deep breathe and soon fell back into a deep sleep. Seeing that the boy was sleeping, Jack moved his arms from on top the Jamie's blanket to under it and laced them around the brunette. At first Jamie tensed up in his sleep from the sensation, but relaxed once the cold was continuing to lower his fever.

"Who needs a cold cloth when you've got me?" Jack joked aloud as he watched Jamie smile in his sleep.


End file.
